El respaldo a los planes para liberalizar el mercado del gas es la mejormanera de aliviar el temor al creciente papel de Gazprom en Europa, según la autora, que se sumaal Debate Abiertosobre los límites de laUE a la inversión extranjera. Ensu opinión, separar las redes evitaría el abuso de compañías integradas verticalmente.
"The Soviet Union was easier to deal with than Russia is today," says a senior French diplomat. "Sometimes the Soviets were difficult, but you knew they were being obstructive in order to achieve an objective. Now Russia seeks to block the west systematically on every subject, apparently without a purpose."
The departure of one half of the Kaczynski twins is good news for Poland's economy and for EU harmony. But those hoping for radical change may be disappointed.
As EU leaders gathered for their latest summit, Britain's Euro sceptics fired their heavy artillery rounds. The Conservatives, the Sun, Mail and Telegraph whipped themselves into a fury, convinced that if they took their analysis of the EU reform treaty to new hyperbolic heights, they could force the government to offer a referendum.
As EU leaders meet to agree a new reform treaty in Lisbon this week, I am struck by the level of angst in Britain over what, to my mind, represents a fantastic negotiating success.
The European Union’s 27 member states expect to approve a ”reform treaty” in Lisbon on Friday, whose birth pangs have caused the bloc perhaps more distress than any episode in its 50-year history.
Leaders from across the world met this week at the United Nations in New York to discuss how to combat climate change. Europeans rightly queued up to criticise the US for refusing to cap emissions of greenhouse gases.
Geoffrey Wheatcroft rejects David Miliband's arguments for keeping the European Union's door open for Turkey ("Structural flaws in Miliband's Turkish bridge", September 10). Like most critics of Turkish accession, he argues that the country is too big, too poor and too Muslim. Like most critics, he is short-sighted.
"C’est bien là la cause de toutes les difficultés qu’auront ensuite la Grande-Bretagne et l’Europe à accorder leurs violons", estime Simon Tilford, chef économiste du CER, basé à Londres.
"The impact on growth from changes in the minimum wage comes down to the level at which it is set," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER in London
Simon Tilford of the CER claims the two sides will struggle to open their markets fully to each other’s farm produce. "When they get down to the nitty-gritty, it’s possible that the negotiations will founder on some of the cultural differences between the EU and the US over things such as genetically modified food," says Tilford.
"A referendum looks almost inevitable now but the timeframe is uncertain," says Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the CER in London. She says the debate is already having a negative economic impact: Investors are getting nervous.
“Politics is one of the black swans of the eurozone this year. In Italy we could have political uncertainty, perhaps the return of Silvio Berlusconi. In Spain, we don’t know where the current scandal surrounding the prime minister will go", said Philip Whyte, of the CER
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